


See If You Can Map My Path

by DigiKate813



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Fluff, Gen, No Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25622983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigiKate813/pseuds/DigiKate813
Summary: Rosie takes on the challenge brought on by her Uncle Sherlock, to see what she can deduce about a new friend she brings home.EDIT: Made a slight change to the backpack deduction to make the conclusion more solid.
Relationships: John Watson & Rosamund Mary "Rosie" Watson, Sherlock Holmes & Rosamund Mary "Rosie" Watson
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25
Collections: 10 Years of Sherlock





	See If You Can Map My Path

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't find an organic way to bring this up in the story, so for context, Rosie is about 12 in this story. This is just a cute little idea I've had for months, and I'm finally writing it down and putting it out there for the 10YearsOfSherlock collection!

Rosie had invited a new friend over to her house to hang out for the afternoon. They had indulged in enjoyable small talk on the walk from the bus stop to the townhouse Rosie shared with her father, and she had expected that the next couple of hours would provide more or less the same. 

What she hadn’t expected, but was very glad to see, was Sherlock pacing around the living room with what looked like a case file. This could be way more exciting then homework.

“Is that your dad?” Rosie’s new friend whispered.

“No. He’s my uncle.” she answered him, Sherlock giving no hint that he was aware of their presence. “Hi Uncle Sherlock!”

Sherlock looked up to finally recognize the girl and boy standing there. “Rosamund.” Sherlock greeted with as little interest as possible. But Rosie wasn’t hurt. That usually meant he was thinking about something really important.

“What’s going on? You and Dad got a case?”

“Yes, and they aren’t going to keep the crime scene untouched much longer. I already had to wait an hour to get your father’s medical opinion.“ Sherlock explained while pacing. Stopping to grab the banister of the stairs and shout for the doctor “John!”

“Hold on will ya?! I’m coming!” John’s voice echoed down to the ground floor. Leaving Sherlock visibly exasperated.The two adolescents side glanced at each other as Rosie attempted conversation.

“Well this is-” Rosie started to introduce her new friend, but Sherlock immediately interrupted. “Not now Rosie.”

“I just thought I should introduce-”

“I have no time to exchange pleasantries with an ambidextrous member of the swim team with recently divorced parents.” the detective deduced without even looking up. Who knows when he noticed what he needed to to reach those conclusions.

Rosie couldn’t help but grin as she watched her friend’s jaw drop. “That’s, amazing. How did he know all of that?”

Sherlock’s built up impatience caused him to groan at the question. That wasn’t too unusual. What was, was his response. “Rosamund, explain.”

Rosie’s grin disappeared immediately and her eyes were wide with surprise. “Explain? Me?” she asked dumbfounded.

Sherlock agitation seem to vanish as he looked up at his goddaughter with a smirk, and a glint in his eyes. In that moment, John started to make his way down the stairs, but something made him stop when he could see Sherlock and Rosie, but they couldn’t see him.

“You know my methods.” Sherlock replied, straightening up, clasping his hands behind his back. “You even know the answers. Let’s see if you can, map my path.” the detective challenged.

Rosie just stood there for a moment, not quite sure how to proceed. John almost walked down to break it up until he heard his daughter ask her friend “Do you mind?”

“No go ahead. I’m dying to know!” he replied enthusiastically. Rosie was still slight hesitant, but after seeing Sherlock nod towards her friend, gesturing for her to proceed, she couldn’t resist, and silently accepted the challenge.

“Uhh, okay..” Rosie stuttered, with a slowly growing smile. Backing up towards Sherlock, scanning over her friend with her eyes. Hands rubbing together as she thought and observed, tying to find the pieces of evidence that Sherlock did.

John decided to crouch back a bit to remain out of sight. There was something so amusing about this that he couldn’t bear to interrupt. This he had to see. Watching as Rosie was almost mimicking her godfather’s mannerisms that she had seen many times as he looked over a person and deduced so much about them. The mimicry continued as the spark of realization suddenly shined in his daughter’s eyes.

“Oh! Well, the swim team thing’s obvious. Your hair is still damp. That wouldn’t be caused by the weather today, there’s barely a cloud in the sky. Could be a shower, but there’s a faint scent of, chlorine?” Rosie asked looking over at Sherlock, who simply nodded. Making Rosie smile with pride that she got it. “Add that we just came back from school, and boom! Practice for the swim team it is.”

“Good. What else?” Sherlock remarked.

“Uhh, does his parents divorce have anything to do with how messed up his uniform looks?” Rosie asked the detective.

“That is part of it, yes.”

”Hey!” her friend objected.

“Sorry. It’s nothing personal. The point is to notice things most people wouldn’t.” Rosie sincerely apologized before she continued “It looks like it hasn’t been laundered in….. a week?” she guessed.

“About. Yeah.” he conceded slightly insecure.

“But that could be for a number of reasons couldn’t it?” Sherlock inquired.

“Well yeah, but nothing about how he keeps himself really suggests he’s a messy person. He’s clean and organized in every other area. Getting your uniform cleaned is the responsibility of the parent. Which they’ve been neglecting.” Rosie countered, earning a gracious smile from her friend.

“And since no one else noticed or corrected it, that suggests he lives with only one parent. They weren’t always a single parent because their son already has neat habits they picked up. Whether it’s because he’s living with the less tidy parent or they’re just busy dealing with the separation, divorce feel the most likely.”

“Because?”

“There’s something else?” she asked turning to look at Sherlock. He only gave a look that clearly said there was more. So Rosie took the bait and started to look for something she missed. Pacing around her friend who look confused but was still interested to see where this was going. Then Rosie noticed what she missed.

“Is your backpack new?” 

“Yeah” her friend answered “My mom got it for me last week.”

“That must be it!” Rosie exclaimed

“What do you mean?”

“Kids tend to buy backpacks at the beginning of the school year. It’s practically tradition. But the semester’s been going for over a month now. So getting a backpack this new and this nice not too long after you likely already got a new one for school, would mean that it was a gift. Maybe an extra nice gift bought to ease the tension of a major life change?” Rosie questioned, pride in her tone of voice.

"Kind of. When my parents split up they got me this because it’s not just great for school but all sorts of outdoor stuff."

"And for traveling between each parents house." Rosie added somewhat absentmindedly, startling her friend. "Sorry. I just noticed your toothbrush in a travel case in the outside pocket. No real reason to take that to school. You put all of those factors together? The conclusion, recent divorce."

"You are, absolutely right. I guess in hindsight it was really more a gift for them then it was for me" the boy commented as he deflated under his own realization.

“I’m so sorry.” Rosie replied sympathetically.

“Thanks.”

“Not bad. But you’ve yet to see how he’s ambidextrous.” Sherlock interrupted.

“Well, uhh…” Rosie stammered as her friend looked on waiting for the answer. Rosie took another good look at him, trying to find the evidence that drew her uncle to that conclusion. But in the end she sighed and her shoulders slumped in defeat. “I don’t know.”

“Give up then?” Sherlock asked

“Yeah I give up.”

“Shame. It’s the most simple answer of the bunch.” Sherlock explained as he approached the boy. “Can you hold out your hands?”

He complied, displaying his hands for the detective. Sherlock took the right one in his own and turned it to it’s side. “See the graphite along the side of his hand? That occurs with dragging your hand across a piece of paper as you write. Common enough really. Normally wouldn't tell you too much. Except, that this young man has it on both hands.” 

As he heard the information, the boy turned his left hand on his own to reveal another slightly fainter smudge. “Not quite as prominent as the one on his right, suggesting that he prefers using this hand, but a marking that size says that he’s accustomed to writing with that hand fairly regularly as well. Conclusion? He’s able to write with both, favoring the right.” Sherlock concluded.

Both kids were stunned into silence for a moment. When they both made eye contact the boy broke the silence saying “He’s right.”

Rosie twirled around with a grunt. Throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. “How did I miss that? It was so easy!” she berated herself with her head in her hands.

“Nothing to be ashamed of. There’s always something. You should be proud, my dear Watson. You got the more difficult ones rather efficiently.” Sherlock assured, placing a comforting hand on her shoulders. Making both Watsons smile, though John was still concealed, and thankfully had managed to go unnoticed. 

As he watched his best friend comfort his daughter, he decided that it’s probably best to get going. They still had work to do.He slowly and silently stepped back up the two steps he’d gone down before, and clear his throat and stomped down the stairs so the group would know he was coming. Snapping Sherlock out of the momentary distraction and back to why he was waiting around in John’s living room to begin with.

“It’s about time!” Sherlock reprimanded. His impatience at having to wait this long resurfacing instantly.

“Let’s just get going.” John retorted at his friend. But his face brightened up swiftly as he greeted his daughter home from school. “Hello darling.”

”Hi Dad.”

”Yes, we’ve established who everyone present in this household is.” Sherlock interrupted “Can we go now?”

“Right. Sorry Rosie. Gotta run. Sherlock’s got a fresh case.”

“Can I come?”

“Absolutely not.” John responded with his typical discipline. “Ms Whitney will be here in about 10 minutes. Should be back in time for dinner.” as John was listing off, Sherlock was already making his way to the door, coat bellowing and case files in hand. John gave Rosie another kiss on the forehead before joining his friend ou the door. 

The pair of preteens stared at the door for a moment. The boy looking back towards his new friend visibly perplexed by the last several minutes.

“Yeah.” Rosie said to him. “They’re always like that.”

And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes Rosie's friend doesn't have a name. Mostly it's because, I couldn't come up with one. But since Rosie never properly introduced him, I thought it's be funny to just, not introduce him in the story either. If I write anymore with Rosie I'll likely bring him back so maybe then I'll have figured out a name for him.
> 
> So let me know if you all like this little sample, because I have got an idea for a casefic involving Rosie and I'd love to see if there would be interest in reading that.


End file.
